Transformers War for Cybertron; Kingdom Voyager Class Optimus Primal: Begun again, the Beast Wars have.

With the recent onslaught of G1, words can't even describe how refreshing it is for me to see the concept of Kingdom. The Maximals and Predacons' return, new versions of Beast Era characters, many not seen at general retail since the mid-2000s (if they're lucky). To celebrate this, I'm going to (for as long as I can) make a pattern of reviews. Autobot, Decepticon, Maximal, Predacon. The Arcee crew got the first Autobot review. Soundwave and his minions got the first Decepticon review. First Maximal review? Who else could it be than the big bot himself, Optimus Primal.

 
Starting in Alternate mode, though the gorilla mode isn't amazing, there's always going to be some sacrifices for the sake of the different modes, this is still an excellent gorilla mode. Primal gets it a bit easy, as it's a humanoid animal turning into a humanoid robot, the only kibble issues will be the legs. I'll admit getting the robot thighs to behave in gorilla mode is a struggle, but it's a minor issue compared to the rest of the toy. I love the sculpted fur on Primal, it looks great and helps him and the other Beast Wars characters stand out against their G1 wave mates. The muscle sculpting on the figure also helps give it a decent presence, even when standing still in basic poses, it feels alive. Due to the need to hide the robot thighs, the articulation is hindered in gorilla mode slightly, but I don't find it that much of an issue. Maybe it's because I don't need it to do a lot of drastic gorilla poses, but as I said, the all fours look has enough of a presence that it doesn't bother me.

                                            
Robot mode is an interesting beast, though. He's significantly shorter than many other recent Voyager Class figures, but unlike figures like Studio Series Scourge, there isn't a reasonable explanation for the size decrease. There are no large chunks of kibble that explain the size and the transformation is pretty simple, like WFC Tank Megatron. It even has a transformation like Tank Megs, where it's mostly moving large chunks of gorilla around. It's a situation similar to Earthrise Cliffjumper and Arcee, where you're unsure where the budget is going. Cliffjumper is probably the best comparison to make, though, as the size doesn't bother me. Scale wise; it fits in mostly well, Beast wars figures aren't going to scale well with G1 figures unless you want Micromasters. The smaller size combined with the more rugged plastic makes it feel larger then it is. I know this has been thrown around a lot when it comes to the War for Cybertron trilogy, along with the Studio Series 86 figures, but this does feel like a budget, mini-Masterpiece, as it does everything I want it to do. Articulation is excellent, with no sacrifices made to make it as poseable as possible (though I would have liked a swivel above the elbow for the sake of the gorilla mode. I love the fact that he comes with all of the hidden guns the original toy used to have, and they're all blast effects compatible. However, that does lead to a small flaw I have with the toy. I don't know if it's because I'm used to it or not, but I find it weird that aside from effects parts ports on the guns, Primal doesn't do the WFC gimmicks. He hasn't got weapon ports to plug any of the partformers like Cog, Black Rorichi, or even the new ones like Paleotrex. There aren't any blast effects spots in places to look like he's getting shot. At the time of writing this, I also have Cheetor, Blackarachnia and Paleotrex, and all of them are in a similar situation when it comes to the WFC gimmicks, but I'll go into details on those another time. Does this make Primal worse? Not really, it's just something odd that I'm noticing when it comes to these new Kingdom toys (for all I know, these gimmicks could be for the G1 figures).

It's great to have a representation of this character, of this version of Primal, done to such a high degree. Does it do everything the original toy did? No, but are you going to miss the mask and mace that never appeared in the cartoon? This wave of Kingdom has, to me at least, felt like the opening wave of Siege (minus the distribution issues Siege Wave 1 had here). A celebrity lineup of memorable-iconic G1 characters, and modern revivals of long-forgotten (at general retail) Beast Wars characters... along with a few outliers but that's beside the point. I was excited for Siege, and I'm excited for Kingdom because we're in for a great year of toys by the looks of it. If you can find him, definitely pick him up. He's a great representation of the character and a clear sign of what we're in for with Kingdom. Hopefully, the next review will be his counter, but if not, I have a few other Predacons to fill that hole.

Transformers War for Cybertron Siege Soundwave x2 (with minions): I'm done putting this one off.

I see you Takara Soundblaster, with your Mercenary badge, gorgeous black and red paint job, and your ability to store two Micromasters in your chest thanks to a window that sticks out awkwardly. I've got it on order, but I've wanted to do a review of Siege Soundwave for a while. I kept putting it off because new minions were announced, then obtained, then the Netflix one was announced while I was in an awkward "no real reason" hiatus. So know what? No. We're doing this! This review is long overdue!

We'll start by looking at the original version of the mould, a figure that suffers from the G1 toy being a Micro Change toy. How do you make a Soundwave toy that collectors will like while still having it be an exciting toy for kids? You try and turn Soundwave into an awkward Spaceship, with an Easter Egg lamp post mode. I think it goes without saying at this point that the original Siege Soundwave, and the Soundblaster as mentioned above in the intro of this review, do not have nice looking alternate modes. What's frustrating is that they're almost cool looking, with the only real issue I have with the modes themselves being the vents and thrusters' positions. They look like they're supposed to fold down and rest on the sides of the ship, instead than sticking out not doing anything. There's even a tab on the body doing nothing, and a slot in the thrusters that look like they line up perfectly. But with the way the hinge pieces were designed, they physically can't get to that point, there's an intentional stopper, why? What's the point? Was the storage for that one grey gun that looked like it was meant to go to Siege Megatron anyway (to the fact that most people gave their Siege Megatron that gun) that important? As for the lampost mode? It's neat that they include it as a nod to G1, Season 1, Episode 1, Scene 1, but it looks even dumber than the space ship. I usually groan when I see people try and force Megatron toys into having a gun mode, or Soundwaves into a cassette player mode. But when you've got two bad modes already, is it any wonder why people were making parts specifically to turn it into the cassette player?

So it should come as no surprise that Hasbro eventually made one that turned into the Cassette player. Released for the Netflix Siege line, Netflix Soundwave (a heavy retool of the Siege Soundwave) does look like an excellent Mini Cassette player, but only from the front. Due to it being a retooling, the mode does not look good from the sides or back. I don't find this to be that big of a problem though, mostly because it is a retool. It wasn't going to have Masterpiece levels of panel management to hide the arms better. It looks great from the front, and it does look a lot better than the Siege one being twisted and contorted into a cassette player. For what we got, I think it's great.

Why was the alt mode vital? Because it doesn't make sense for a spaceship to drop rectangles out the back. Through the power of Micromasters, This version of Soundwave has minions! Between the two years of toylines, Soundwave has eight rectangle minions that he can store in his chest, have out deployed in their robot/ animal modes, or wear as shields because Micromasters had to have weapon modes for War for Cybertron. So to quickly give them mini-reviews:

• Siege Laserbeak: Siege Laserbeak is probably the best of the lot because it looks good in all its modes. It doesn't feel like anything was compromised when designing the toy to pull off everything it needed. I love the detail on the wings, and I especially love the fact that the blast effects ports on the back mean you can pull off a hilarious rocket bird mode. You can also have Laserbeak perched on Soundwave's arm. While it does make the feet look big, it's a minor complaint and adds stability—a great companion piece for Soundwave.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Siege Ravage: It's a shame though that his packmate is terrible. Siege Ravage does not look good in cat mode. The cat legs look awkward. Paint is excellent, I like the purple along the back, and the red eyes look cool, but due to the size, the legs look too bulky for something that's supposed to be a sleek, stealthy predator. There's a reason mine usually live inside Soundwave's chest.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Netflix Laserbeak and Ravage: Packed in with Netflix Soundwave, they're both the same, with the only noticeable differences being the paint applications (in an attempt at being more G1 toy accurate) and both having new heads. Pretty much everything I could say about these two has been covered when looking at their general retail release predecessors. The only reason I bring them up separately though is because I wish these two were Buzzsaw and Howlback. Out of the regular minions for Soundwave (trust me, he gets some weird ones in the toys), Buzzsaw is the only one missing, which is odd because the original partner he came with back in 1984 was Buzzsaw. Considering how hard the Laserbeak and Ravage shelf warmed, I'm surprised they didn't take the chance to repaint them and fill in those minion gaps, as anyone who wanted the Netflix Soundwave likely already had Laserbeak and Ravage. Were people that desperate for G1 heads for them?
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Siege Ratbat and Generations Selects Wingthing: Though the rectangle mode for these two does look bad, the bat modes look great, like Micromaster Batterangs (and thus concludes obligatory Batman reference). The only real complaints I have are Wingthing's missing paint applications (not sure why), and the fact that the post for plugging them into bigger bots isn't in an excellent position to have them be flying on display. You could probably pull something off, but the back-mounted port does look awkward to work around.
  
  
  
  
  Above image was sourced from https://thelastgherkin.tumblr.com/post/628351249459331072/generations-selects-soundwave-spy-patrol-3rd-unit (it was the only image of that half of the Generations Selects pack I could find)
  
  
• Siege Rumble and Generations Selects Frenzy: No, I'm not going into which one is which, these are what they're called on the box, regardless of if I agree with them or not, that's what I'm calling them for this review. For a pair of mini humanoid robots, they're alright. I think the hips are a bit too wide, and the thighs too short, but I wasn't expecting much out of these two, especially when it comes to articulation, as none of the Micromasters has had strong articulation. No pile drivers for either of them, but with blast effects ports on their hands, they can pull off some hilarious overkill pyrotechnics. Paint on their chests though is very weak, as both of mine have been chipping off over time. It sucks, but at least with Siege, you can pass that off as battle damage.

Soundwave's robot mode is extremely basic when compared to other Transformers. A good G1 Soundwave doesn't have kibble, and credit where it's due for both versions, they're very clean transformations, with the only notable instances of kibble being the landing skids on both versions arms. Moving these two around is an absolute delight, thanks to the sturdy joints (a little too sturdy in the case of my Netflix Soundwave's shoulders). You can even fudge your way into them pressing their eject buttons to deploy the minions inside. Head sculpt is frustrating on both of them, because while I love the detailing on the Siege Soundwave, they went for the toy accurate yellow yes, which I'm not a fan of. While on the Netflix one, it has the red eyes and a simpler, more cartoon accurate head sculpt. Why did that need to get remoulded? Thanks to the C.O.M.B.A.T port gimmick of Siege, both versions can store all the minions on them. I've got all the minions with Netflix Soundwave, and what I tend to do with the pointless pipe gun that looks awful as a gun, and even worse when combining his actual firearms. What I do is that I use it as a makeshift flight stand for Laserbeak, plugging it onto Soundwave's back so that it looks like the bird is flying over him.

If you can't find a Netflix Soundwave on the shelf, I still think the toy's original Siege version is an excellent representation of Soundwave. The reason to get the Netflix one is if you absolutely must have a G1 faithful version of Soundwave that scales with your other Generations Figures. It's like trying to decide which War for Cybertron Optimus Prime you should get. Both are excellent toys, and there's no definitive answer to which one is objectively better or worse. I hope that we get a Blaster in the future. While I don't think the Ravage mould would work for Steeljaw, I could see them getting a great Ramhorn out of it, and all they'd need to do for Rewind and Eject is change the deco on Frenzy and Rumble. It would also be an excuse to get the missing Buzzsaw and Howlback (Spy Patrol 4th unit anyone?). Blaster did play a decent role in the 86 movie, after all. Just saying, it could happen. This toy is a significant improvement over the Titans Return one, a great figure to add to your Decepticon army.

Top 10 Transformers Purchased in 2019

With a new year and a new decade upon us, I thought it might be nice to look back on what's been, because 2019 was a solid year for Transformers. Siege was a huge step up over Power of the Primes, Cyberverse gave characters not cast in plastic for several years a new chance on life, and Studio Series continues to replicate the movie designs (whether or not this is a good thing or not depends on your view of the movie designs). With 2020 looking to continue the upward trend, and even improve on the engineering in Cyberverse, I thought I might look back at the 10 best figures I obtained in 2019. They don't need to be released this year, they don't have to be objectively the best, just the stuff that I've enjoyed the most that I obtained this year.

10. Cyberverse Skybyte

While the spark armour gimmick of the Cyberverse line was more of a mess then I'd hoped for, I will admit that Skybyte on his own was a nice figure. Basic engineering, but fitting for what is basically a Legends Class toy. As good as previous Skybyte toys? No idea, this is the only one I own, but perfectly serviceable. A fun toy to fidget with, thanks to the basic, but to the point transformation and small size. Besides, it's nice to see something other then G1 get nostalgia love.

9. Siege Shockwave

I like a good spaceship Transformer every now and then, and while many purists might not like all the extra stuff added in to turn a space gun into a spaceship, it doesn't take away from how playable Shockwave is. If you want to completely ignore the armour, you've still got a good voyager sized Shockwave that turns into the space gun. At the end of the day, I love toys that are fun to mess with, that don't feel like they're going to break if you do something wrong. Shockwave's fun, a strong release in Siege bogged down in the controversy of all the extra plastic that a lot of people didn't want but had to get to avoid the "you're selling a gun to my child" controversy. He also looks great in black, at least based on pictures I've seen.

8. Studio Series Hightower

I had to put this thing somewhere on the list. Is it a good toy? No, but it's hilarious that it exists at all, considering as the design itself is universally hated. I'm not against non-humanoid robot designs, but Hightower's design is a joke, and that's honestly the best thing about it. I love how stupid this thing looks, I find it hilarious that someone legitimately thought that this was a cool design. Until the rest of Devastator comes out, and even probably after, this guy has the title of the funniest transformers I have, and for that alone, he makes the list.

7. Siege Micromasters

I'm lumping all of them together for this one (except for Wave 5, I'm missing those two), as, like Skybyte, they're fun to fiddle around with, and with Earthrise teasing at Micromaster bases in the future, it'll be fun to have a modern take on the Micromaster play pattern. If I had to pick a favorite of the wave 1 moulds, it would have to be the one used for Flak, along with Roadhandler at number 2, Lazerbeak at number 3. All I can really say is "more Micromasters please, and try to refresh the stock here once in a while, I'm sick of seeing Wave 2 on shelves! (While you're at it, for the love of Primus, stop putting Studio Series Blackout and Grimlock on shelves!)

6. Siege Jetfire

Jetfire is probably one of my favourite characters in Transformers, so from the announcement of it happening, I was onboard for Siege's take. The end result is a fun display piece. As good as third party offerings of Skyfire? No, but again, it's that playability that I enjoy in collecting Transformers, so while Siege Jetfire might not be as amazing as the Fanstoys one, but he can certainly outgun him. A very minor complaint of mine is that I wish he had a bit more weight in him. He feels a bit too light for someone of that size. Not KO levels of light, nowhere near it. It might just be a me thing because while I'm not what you'd call buff, my job requires moving heavy stuff around.

5. Studio Series Dropkick (Car mode)

Why aren't their more muscle car transformers? I'm not joking around here, there are a surprisingly large amount of vehicles that have the potential to be cool transformers, but you never see them (or rarely see them at best), with Muscle cars being one of them. It's why I've enjoyed the car forms of Bumblebee villains Shatter and Dropkick. While Shatter has a bad kibble problem, Dropkick's

4. Studio Series Scrapmetal

What've I've enjoyed the most about figures in the Studio Series line like Scrapmetal is that while they've taken creative liberties, to me at least they're creative liberties that improve the looks of the characters, decluttering the movie designs and making them stronger as a result. To me, while there are parts of the movie designs I like, they always look messy with parts overkill cluttering the look, and parts coming out of nowhere to make it look even worse at times (I swear movie 1 Bumblebee has two engines for feet). The simplification for the sake of making working toys does mean that we get nicer looking designs (for the main body at least), and Scrapmetal is probably the best example of this. It's nice as a standalone toy, and I'm curious to see how well it holds up as Devastator's left hand.

3. Siege Impactor

A long-awaited figure to join The Wreckers, and one that certainly didn't disappoint. While locking the IDW head behind a US exclusive is annoying, the original looking head still looks great and doesn't detract away from how great of an overall figure Impactor is. It's strong, commanding, might have been better as a voyager, but there's still a clear presence to him on a shelf, in both tank mode and robot mode. Perfectly fitting his long-awaited arrival as an official toy. Would have been nicer though if his legs weren't so visibly hollow though.

2. Siege Spinister

From an absolute nobody that no one expected to be any good, to what many, myself included, view as one of the best Siege toys released, and also the best helicopter Transformer released (though when your competition includes Studio Series Dropkick, there's not that much competition in it). Spinister's a lot of fun to mess around with, movement feels effortless, the transformation is fun, there's very little I can actually fault him for, and what faults I have, most of them I can easily look past for the sake of the overall figure. If you could only get one figure in Siege, get Spinister.

Before moving on, a few honourable mentions

• Siege Skywarp: Fun in a squad, just wish those Rainmakers weren't US exclusives
• Studio Series Drift (Helicopter): A bit too much kibble on him for my liking, but it's a far better Helicopter then Dropkick's one was
• Siege Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime: I really wanted to love this thing, but the Ultra Magnus retools get in the way, and to this day I still don't know how those shoulder pads are meant to store in space fire truck mode.
• Studio Series Ironhide: Honestly the biggest issue with this guy has just been the release schedules of Studio Series with entire waves being almost impossible to find on shelves while older stock keeps being brought in and shelf warming.
• Siege Optimus Prime: I've got more to say about him in the new year, as a joint review of him and Takara's Nemesis repaint is a goal of mine to cover. A lot of fun to mess around with though, I just don't want to give it to the toy that's guaranteed to be good because it's Optimus Prime

And for number 1...

 Galaxy Force Megatron

A collection such as toy collecting is a representation of who you are. The stuff you gravitate towards tells a bit about yourself, what you enjoy, what you hate. It's an amazing feeling to find a grail from your childhood, something you've wanted for a long time and now finally own, and Galaxy Force/ Cybertron Megatron was one of my grail pieces. While I was introduced to Transformers in late Armada/ early Energon, Cybertron design-wise was a line that felt like it could do no wrong for me as a child, and even to this day holds a special place in my heart. If I had the space and the money, I'd probably try and put together a complete collection of that line. I'll admit Megs isn't quite as graceful about gimmick integration as Optimus is, but he still has a presence to him that I do think some incarnations lack. For that reason, Galaxy Force Megatron is my number 1 Transformer toy purchased in 2019.

With that, it'll be interesting to see what happens in 2020. I've got some things lined up, like a review of the Generations Selects Seacons, a goal of mine is to try and track down a MakeToys Thunder Manus so if that happens, you'll see that as a review. Studio Series Devastator is still happening as far as I know, and Earthrise looks to have a lot of interesting stuff in the pipeline if leaks are to be believed (I'm hyped for Snapdragon and Doubledealer).

Transformers; War for Cybertron; Siege Seeker Mold (Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp... plus some Battlemasters too I guess)

So... after last week's takedown of the Classics toy and it's many, many, many, many repaints, I figured it might be a solid idea to look at the Siege release of Starscream, and the repaints that came from him... is what I would say if most of them weren't a pain to get, either due to price (in the case of Red Wing), or because a company that licences the name and look of another company can't get the exclusives of that company so no Rainmakers for me without booking a holiday trying to track the set down. (insert sad face emoji here). Skywarp would have also been in that camp, but Amazon is far less strict about where it sends it's packaging too (and you people wonder why physical stores are dying out, other than the fact that it's getting harder and harder to find the items you're looking for and not just more Fortnite figures and motion-sensing ninjas that fart... I wish I was kidding about that last one, it's actually really obnoxious). With the core three though, many like myself are at least satisfied, and there's enough to do a review (though I do wish I could get those Rainmakers...).

Before going to the Seekers though, I'll quickly cover the three included Battlemasters that came with Skywarp. Because it wasn't enough to lock Skywarp away behind an exclusive, he had to come with three other repaints for the sake of marketing it as the "Decepticon Phantomstrike Squadron". As such, he comes with Fracas (a repaint of the wave 1 Battlemaster Firedrive), a Targetmaster normally associated with Scourge, however, unlike Hotrod and Firedrive, I'm waiting for a better Scourge to give this guy too because mine suffered a lot from loose joints. Another repaint is Shrute, a repaint of the Wave 2 Aimless (that you can still buy here in bulk, please do so we can get rid of that stock for the wave 3 weapons!), who'll go with Spinister when that gets released, and Terror-Daxtyl, a repaint of the other wave 2 weapon, Pteraxadon, who unlike the other two, turns from a Pterodactyl to an axe, and kinda has a third mode as a gun. All three come with repaints of their effects parts, and on the whole, they're solid. In terms of quality control, I wish Fracas' backpack gun was a bit tighter, and Shrute's was a bit looser, but on the whole, they're fine.

Going to the main event though, starting in jet mode, and considering the designs they were trying to replicate, these look great. Not flawless by any stretch of the imagination, but still great recreations of the Generation 1 Tetrajets. For context, the Tetrajets are the designs the Seekers had at the start of the G1 cartoon, which could be summed up as flying triangular pyramids. It's stupid, but it conveys the space jet motief very well all things considered. I'll focus on Starscream for the deco, because while all of them share the same paint applications, including the battle damage spots of paint, Starscream's grey plastic helps with some of the darker paint applications, particularly the Decepticon logos on the wings, which are hard to see on Thundercracker, and especially on Skywarp. But the trade-off is that Starscream looks very bland when compared to the other Seekers, mostly because of the prominence of grey in his colours. It's hard to call that a problem though because Grey, Red and Blue are the colours Starscream is most known for. It would have looked nicer in white though. One big issue the mould has though is undercarriage. While not quite Robot under a Jet syndrome, the legs and arms are blatantly visible, yet look like they belong there thanks to it being a space jet. They look like heavy-duty booster rockets and intakes, which kinda works for me.

For the robot mode, these are nice representations of the Generation 1 designs. With Siege, I think it's at its best when it goes for a futuristic alternate mode, with a G1 robot mode. Don't get me wrong, they have some kibble issues, but the only kibble that is a problem on them is the jet boosters on their backs. The wings are a lot bigger, but look really impressive, imposing, especially when the three of them are together. The backs are hollow, and depending on the angle, you can look through them, but it's an angle you have to work hard to get at least. Quality control has been an issue for this mould, Starscream's chest panel is very easy to pop off to the point where it's almost easier to remove it for the sake of transformation, and none of the ones I have can have their Null Rays securely connect to the shoulder ports "they're supposed to go into". While I could make them tighter if I wanted too, I like them on the lower arms anyway, so I don't mind. Those, however, are case by case depending on the individual quality control at the time it was made. Articulation is standard for the line through arm movement can be somewhat hindered by the wings. One problem Starscream had was the face sculpt, though the release of Thundercracker gives you a smirk face more fitting of him (or you can splurge for Red Wing, your choice).

Though not completely flawless, I'd have been happy making a Seeker Squad with this mould. The only problem is that the way they've been released has made that plan extremely difficult. They're not masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination, but they're fun to play with, to move from mode to mode. Could they have done Coneheads with this? No. But it would have been nice to see a Slipstream... Just saying. It's a toy worth looking into, but if you want a squad, you may as well just wait for the new one.

Transformers Studio Series (Revenge of The Fallen) Voyager Class Constructicon Long Haul: Behold, one of the most faithful to source Bayformers Decepticons.

What is this? A humanoid (ish) looking Decepticon, who got to keep his alternate mode from Generation 1, who got to keep his status as a part of a combiner, with the only loss being his position in the combiner, but it comes with the bonus of no longer needing to be that combiner's guts? I would say that is a solid win for Long Haul, especially when you remember how much weight he had to gain in order to be Devastator's crotch in Combiner Wars. In addition, being a leg means he does not need to lug around Devastator's balls... So anyway, the Long Haul review...

Starting in dump truck mode, and though it has some large, glaring issues due to transformation, this is a solid dump truck, and from what I have seen, better than the Combiner Wars one. I will be honest; there are some parts to Devastator where G1 comparisons are, to me at least, valid. Four of the six G1 Constructicons are in this Devastator, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Scavenger and Scrapper. However, I will only be comparing three; Scavenger is too far removed from his G1 incarnation (though comparing him to Scrapmetal might have been more valid. Joys of hindsight). However, Long Haul, Scrapper and Mixmaster are fair game (though Long Haul more than the others). With that said, in terms of vehicle modes, the Studio Series one is certainly better than the Combiner Wars one, though a large chunk of that is the requirements in the combination. That's not to say this is a flawless dump truck mode, there are a lot of gaps in the design, and due to how the arms need to move, there's no working dumper, you can't even load cargo on it, which is something that the Combiner Wars one has as an advantage (in that it was Devastator Parts storage). What I do like most about this dump truck though is that the Combiner Wars one looks bloated, as if it is barely able to hold everything it needs to hold. The Studio Series one looks more consistent, from certain angles; it looks like it could be the real thing. Nevertheless, it still needed to make sacrifices for the sake of the combined mode, so onto foot mode.

In foot mode, the first thing that comes to mind is "how the hell is Overload going to work?", and by extension, how is Devastator going to work? The connection points are not consistent with Rampage, and on top of that, the ratchet range looks and feels inconsistent, making me question how stable this person is going to be. I do not know if the visual difference is because of how much more mass is being used in Long Haul, or if there are distinct differences between the ratchets used. As for the foot itself, it is a larger foot then Rampage is, though a complaint I have is that I wished the back wheels had a place to lock in, rather than be loose. Might have helped make the heal place more secure as well. As for how well it holds up, we will have to wait for (hopefully) next year to find out.

As for the robot mode, with the current spectrum of Scrapmetal as being good movieverse robot modes, and Rampage as bad ones, this is on the Scrapmetal side, I honestly love this robot mode. This reminds me of the types of tanks you would see in Role Playing Games, the heavily plated, super slow, but can take a ton of damage and exist to be damage sponges in raids. Speaking purely in the looks department, I really like this robot mode. Unfortunately, that tank comparison also means that Long Haul is not going to be doing a lot of posing. A lot of kibble gets in the way of movements, so while he has the standard points of articulation, including a waist swivel for the sake of Devastator, and even ankle tilts bringing him up to par with the War for Cybertron line, you have to fight the kibble to be able to use a lot of it. What helps though is that it does not take much to make him look intimidating, again thanks to the kibble.

Overall, I would say this is a win. Though I am concerned about Devastator requirements, he still works as a good standalone robot at least, and the toning down of movie accuracy works in the same way as it does Scrapmetal, in that it makes him look better than he did in the movie. Three out of eight of the Constructicons in and only one has been bad, so we may have a promising future ahead. However, that being said next is Hightower so who knows. I will not be reviewing Hightower next, that will be in a few weeks, because next I am looking at a recent Lego set for a nice change of pace by reviewing not a Marvel set, but a DC set.

Transformers Studio Series Devastator Part 2; Constructacon Rampage: Bonecrusher arguably got off easy

I say arguably because he got turned into a Minesweeper who only existed to be a cool fight for Optimus in the first movie, and die shortly after. I mean, at least he got legs.

Part 2 on the trek to see if Hasbro and Takara really can pull off a large Devastator with reasonably accurate robot modes continues with the introduction of the one combiner part that would make sense on a beast looking Combiner, Rampage. "Promoted from Predacon to Constructacon, your choice on if this is the one from Predaking or the Predacon from Beast Wars. At least this one had more of a presence then Scrapmetal did.

Starting in bulldozer mode, and we're not off to a good start as the Combiner sacrifices are on display here. There are a lot of awkward gaps in the main body of the bulldozer, and unlike Scrapmetal, there's no movement here other than the wheels, making it feel very basic. In terms of functionality, the Combiner Wars Bonecrusher has it beat, but that's likely due to the fact that the scoop on that toy (I don't know construction vehicles), actually needed to move for the sake of the robot mode. Rampage's alt mode does, however, look a lot better then Bonecrusher's does, however that perspective is skewed slightly due to relying on images and videos for comparisons, as I don't own a Combiner Wars Devastator (and this is also being reviewed when I'm out of the house because I was bored, but that's beside the point). The muted red is complimented nicely by the paint, with things like the silver scoop, the blue windows, and the realistic placement of black and silver helping give it more of a presence, compared to CW Bonecrusher's bombardment of lime green. At a good angle, Rampage's bulldozer mode makes for a nice display piece if you don't want him for Devastator, but for those who do...

In a further case of redefining Scramble City, Ravage becomes the left foot of Devastator, and one that looks to be able to support the weight, thanks to a pair of sturdy, but moveable ratchets in the ankle. My only concern as it currently stands though is the connection to Overload, and how strong it will be because it looks to be connected via a sliding rail, and a pair of tabs. The instructions to get to this mode are complicated for what you're actually doing, and it feels like joints mentioned in the instructions aren't actually there. It doesn't make the mode impossible to get to, just frustrating for what the end result turns out to be. The support stand included for Ravage's robot mode, while it can store in the bulldozer mode, can't connect to the foot mode, which is a shame as it would help with covering the gap that is most of the foot, due to it being the treads and scoop of the bulldozer. If there is a way to do it though, let me know.

To the robot mode, and while I like Scrapmetal's robot mode, this just skews too far into the monster direction that it's hard to take it seriously, and the design of the character for the movie is a huge hindrance on the toy itself. It's a shame to an extent because I do like the idea of Transformers that don't have human-like designs, so seeing something like this is at least unique. It makes you wonder what troubles this poor bastard went through to get where he is, what caused him to have these proportions? It looks nasty in the good kind of way, but unfortunately, you can't get any good poses out of him. The tail is stiff and blocky for the sake of Devastator, and the arms are limited to what's in the shoulders in terms of movement, meaning you can't even get a good jumping pose out of him because they can't even reach all the way up. Even moving kibble out of the way, you can't even get a T-pose out of him, he just ends up looking like he wants a hug. You can't even get the tread whips looking good due to their small size, I really wish he came with accessories to make those longer. It's also a shame that they didn't do anything for the scoop and the cockpit, as those are some of the largest pieces of kibble I've ever seen on a Transformer (that isn't their entire alt mode on their backs)


*There would be a screenshot here of where he was in the movie, but I can't find one, nor can I take one, that isn't a blurry mess. He was the one that fought Bumblebee in the final battle, with Bumblebee using Ravage's spine as a weapon against him*


While I can recommend Scrapmetal as a stand-alone toy, the only reasons I can think of to get Rampage is either because you want a somewhat nice looking red Bulldozer, or you want him to be Devastator's foot. He's just not good as a stand-alone Transformer, and I can't help but feel that the source is the biggest part of the problem, it's probably the main reason why most of the toylines adopt a "design toy first, do lore second" approach. I think this type of design could be interesting to revisit later when the combining requirement isn't needed and it can have more movement, but as it stands, for me, it's going to stay as either a bulldozer or a foot.